Red Cross Society Wants More Ambulances    

The Red Cross Society of Ghana is appealing to the government and the public to help resource it with ambulances.

The Society says it has the personnel to man these ambulances to augment efforts by traditional health service providers.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the National Operations Director of the Red Cross Society, Dr. Eric Asamoah Darko, said they could do more to assist the Ghana Health Service in healthcare delivery for the benefit of Ghanaians.

According to him, the Chinese Red Cross Society donated an Ambulance that was being used by the red cross society, but the ambulance developed a fault with the engine and had broken down.

“Currently, we use to have one ambulance because we have a health post on the Tema Motorway, but with that ambulance, we have a challenge with the engine. It was donated to us by China Red Cross, and because that ambulance is unique, getting an engine for it is a challenge to us. We are trying to get an alternative engine for it. That is so far the challenge we have for the ambulance issue.”

Dr. Asamoah Darko however revealed that the Red Cross Society is making efforts to get the ambulance fixed.

He mentioned that the society could run an efficient ambulance service.

Dr. Asamoah Darko also mentioned that the World Bank funded the construction of nine first aid posts situated in accident prone areas on some of the major highways in the country.

According to him, there are four first aid posts on the Accra-Kumasi, two on the Accra-Aflao, Accra-Cape Coast stretch, and one on the Tema motorway.

“However, the World Bank has also seen the need for the red cross coming on board to assist people regarding the ambulance service, they have built eight first-aid posts on the accident-prone areas, for us.”

29 million Ghanaians share 55 ambulances
The country of 29 million people only has 55 functioning ambulances serving all ten regions.

Ghana currently has 155 ambulances, 100 of which have broken down due to various faults, many of them engine-related.

The remaining 55, are stationed in various parts of the country to offer emergency health responses and essential life support.

However the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia promised that government would procure a number of ambulances.

In an address at the 2018 Annual Health Summit in Accra, he announced that the government had initiated processes to provide 275 ambulances to boost the operations of the National Ambulance Service.